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Beckley man will spend at least three years in prison for firing shots into neighborhood

Local
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2/20/2014 5:04 PM
by Karen Franklin

BECKLEY - A Beckley man convicted of firing shots into a Raleigh County neighborhood intending to hit a police informant will spend at least three years in prison.

Judge Robert Burnside Junior sentenced 31-year-old Michael Darnell Harvey to three to 12 years behind bars. Harvey was convicted of five counts of wanton endangerment and one count of retaliation against an informant stemming from an incident in 2011.

"We're very pleased with the outcome," Beckley Police Det. Jason McDaniel told WOAY. "We brought the case to the prosecutors, the prosecutors presented this case, and it's a win. It's a win for the community."

While Harvey completely denies any involvement in the case, police and a jury say he fired shots into homes on Cannaday street. No one was injured in the shooting.

"Being incarcerated for almost five months, having my name forever tarnished, my education trampled on by six felonies and being taken away from my mother and eventually losing her all in the case where I really had nothing to do with this, Your Honor, all I can do is ask for leniency," Harvey said in court Thursday.

Both the defense and prosecution agreed Harvey is educated and articulate, and therefore not a typical inmate.